Part 4 of the complete Southernhay history, covering southernhay leisure, pubs, bowling & motoring.
The Bulls Eye opened in August 1964 and was the first purpose-built public house in Basildon town centre. Its original design included two ground-floor bars and a large upper level capable of serving as a ballroom and dining hall. Mr. Toby's Carvery later operated upstairs. The pub changed over the decades and became known as The Beehive.
The Ambassador Bowl at 129–131 Southernhay opened on 3 February 1962 with 26 bowling lanes. Bowling was a major part of Basildon's new leisure offer and the venue became one of the street's most distinctive attractions.
Basildon Council took over the bowling alley in June 1975. The operation was reduced to ten lanes and renamed Basildon Bowl. Bingo use followed: Coral Bingo is recorded from 1975, and the business later became connected with Granada Social Clubs and then Gala during the 1990s.
The Southend Motor & Aero Co. opened a motor showroom, workshop and Mobil filling station on Southernhay in June 1962. The site later passed through SMAC Group and Lookers, with Austin Rover activity associated with it in the late 1980s. Motor Market was the last recorded car-sales use before the site fell out of use around the beginning of the 2000s.
The former motor-trade site was redeveloped for The Icon, a nine-storey development containing 121 one- and two-bedroom apartments. It officially opened in February 2008, bringing a major new residential use back to Southernhay and changing the southern town-centre skyline.